Though winter is holding on with a vice-like grip, the DNR is reminding those with ice shacks that it's not long until they need to be removed from lakes and rivers.
DNR Conservation Warden Tom Van Haren says the middle of March is a key time to remember....
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"....for most waters, there's a north-south line in the state...Highway 64 is the dividing line. If you're north of the Highway 64 line then you have to have your permanent shelters removed beginning the first Sunday afte March 12 each year.....
That would be March 16. If you have an ice shack south of Highway 64 it must be removed the first Sunday after March 1, which was March 2. Van Haren says the shelters can be put up but must be removed daily after the official dates pass.
He says even with one of the coldest winters in decades, they won't extend the removal dates...
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"....the feeling that the ice is safe and can't they leave their permanent shelters out longer...we don't really have the authority to do that. That date is set by rule. To change that rule, it would require going to a normal rulemaking process, which takes about two years to change that date...."
He says shelters left unoccupied on the ice overnight will result in a ticket of $263.
